If Mormonism gave up on all the weird stuff, disclosed finances, went to a WWJD type gospel of 'pure Christianity' without the Whistles & Bells, what % would stay, what % would leave, how many would go back ('to be with family/friends')?

One of the overlooked cults was Herbert J. Armstrong's "Worldwide Church of God." Armstrong taught a hodgepodge of strange doctrines, notably "Ango-Israelism," that the Northern European peoples were the Ten Lost Tribes, and would be reunited with Christians and True Zion in the last days, etc. blah-blah-blah. They were also a high-control cultic group.

When Armstrong died, there was no heir apparent, as his son Garner Ted Armstrong had been disgraced in numerous financial and sexual scandals. The remaining leadership came in contact with an Evangelical cult-study group, the Christian Research Institute (founded by Walter Martin, who worked with the Tanners).

That leadership jettisoned much of Armstrong's teachings, and became a convention Evangelical-type denomination. Great, huh? Well, mostly. Or partly. Lots of WWCoG churches broke away from the now-apostate main group, and either went independent or combined in smaller (mostly geographic) associations of their own. So some are conventional Protestant, others still hold to the wacko Armstrong beliefs.

Considering how various groups broke away from LDS/SLC over the generations because of polygamy and "authentic" priesthood claims and counterclaims, I think you'd have a repeat of the WWCoG situation if LDS/SLC went Protestent. Some would follow along ("baaa...baaa...baaa...") Many would growl, howl, and go off into their own spiritual wilderness, alone or in groups.

It's overlooked because it is out of fashion. It used to be a big movement back in the day...

As you say, it split up and diluted itself.

Although I have never been Mormon, I have ingested a huge amount of Mormon beliefs, teachings, and culture over the last fifteen- plus years, and my personal opinion is that if I ever had to live a Mormon life (even for the duration of a Sunday morning), I would die (or very close to it) of boredom.

It seems to me that a person could go to Mormon services and Mormon get-togethers for an entire lifetime, and never ever learn anything factual (or think about anything which was intellectually exciting) that they didn't already know or think about.

After all these years of "learning Mormonism," my personal opinion is: "There is no THERE there," and when it comes to useful or thought provoking content, Mormonism and Mormon life contain not even a quark's worth of either one IMO.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2019 10:27PM by Tevai.

I actually pointed out on another thread my ignorance of certain everyday parts of Mormonism, and was accused of being a Nevermo.

You can actually be a member for years and never pick up on some aspects. I don't know much about a lot of what goes on in Relief Society and it turned out many of the women didn't know much about Elders' Quorum. I never attended or taught primary, so all of my knowledge is second hand. Ditto High Priest Group - I only had the vaguest idea - I would walk past and it was always the aame one or two voices dominating the class.

There is so much terminology in Mormonism. My ward never had Boy Scouts (a shame because despite the abuse issues, I think there are some really good aspects to scouting.) So i don't know how the LDS and Scouts "interface".

There is no chance I’d go back. Even if they made every reform imaginable, they’d still have nothing to offer me.

What would be left? Conventional Christianity with a huge price tag and a bunch of uninspired, and uninspiring, old guys telling you what to do.

Isn't conventional Christianity significantly more attractive than that?

There's no telling where the GAs and apostles would be. My guess, they'd be all over the doctrinal map. Or floor.

Consider my relation of the worldwide Church of God, above: the "Establishment" went Evangelical, it was individual churches and members who held fast. With LDS/SLC, it would be quite a slugfest.

I'm not sure of that. They are so old that there isn't much fight left in them. And their "progress" towards conventional Christianity is taken one consensual step at a time.

And ultimately it doesn't really matter. If some apostle went off and started his own charismatic church, some small number of people would follow him. But how would that be different from the Snufferites or the followers of Julie Rowe? When push comes to shove, very few Mormons remain loyal to them because there is nothing more fundamental to Mormonism than the notion of authority: the claim to unique inspiration from God. Once that reverence is gone, there is very little left.

I think the fundamental question for most members/investigators hast to be whether the apostles and "prophets" offer any advantage over less ambitious churches. If the LDS leaders have lost their prestige, they become expensive but unattractive bells and whistles.

They've taught that it is all-or-nothing for a very long time, and Mormons tend to think that way. The outcome is more binary than it was during the 19th century.

...Except that wasn't GNPE's "Unlikely To Happen" narrative. It was, what if LDS/SLC jettisoned most of Mormon practice and doctrine as we now it, and embraced a simpler, conventional Christianity?

I think you would have a plethora of sects and factions, with different apostles and GAs accumulating allies and temporal resources. Mormonism, after all, has always been intensely power-oriented. Leaders and factions would be scrambling for power, influence, allies, followers...financial holdings...real estate...

Lawyers' billing hours would be incalculable!

I think the existence of the Corporation Sole would be a bar to any quibbling about the money. And the power goes with the money.

I guess my question is, does the jettisoned doctrine and practice include tithing and the Q15?

I simply say that the worst of human nature would run rampant, meaning a frantic pursuit of allies, followers, celebrities, real and financial assets.

And women! Trophy wives would be going at premium prices.

As as secondary and tertiary explosions shoot out, the fundamentalists and polygamists would be gloating, "See--we told you all along they were a bunch of frauds!"

;$)

“If the LDS leaders have lost their prestige, they become expensive but unattractive bells and whistles.”

That doesn’t come into the picture if you believe Nelson has a Jesus phone on his desk. He can get a pass on anything because he’s just following orders from the big guy.

Belief powers Mormonism. Unfortunately, the belief is based on a bunch of hokum. Remove the hokum and what’s left? Not enough to keep people interested. No interest, no money.

It's hard to say. I think there are some members who are with the program no matter what it is, and just assume that "smarter men than they" are in charge.

At some point during my 31 years as a member of the Church (all as an adult) I realized that I did not need the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to connect with God. For the last ~20 of those years I did not need the Church to declare me worthy and issue me a "recommend."

No recommend? No problem. When I didn't care if I had a recommend or not, the Church or assorted bishops couldn't bully me with their petty threats.